Real Madrid beat Atalanta (3-1) in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 thanks to goals from Benzema, Ramos from penalties and Asensio; However, the duel enjoyed another protagonist who did not register his name in the match statistics (incredibly, by the way), but who He was the best Madrid player in attack: Vinicius.
The Brazilian already started the night triumphing: he was selected by Zidane to complete Real Madrid's lead alongside Benzema. Asensio and Rodrygo, his two main competitors for the minutes, were imposed in the bid now that Hazard you are injured again; the Spaniard is very much to Zidane's taste, but his recent performances did not justify his inclusion in the eleven, although the 3-1 that he scored as soon as he left reinforces him for the future; Rodrygo left good minutes against Elche, but the Marseille coach does not finish seeing him on the left and his physical distance with Vinicius is remarkable.
Zidane chose Vinicius to test Atalanta's ability to stop the Brazilian in open spaces. In the first half he was seen little, with a more conservative version of the Bergamo team, although it gave him to form a good connection with Benzema that almost ended in a goal for the former Flamengo. In the second half, with Atalanta in the open grave, the best minutes of Vinicius arrived.
First, with a game that would have fully entered the lists of the best goals of the year … had it finished in a goal. Vinicius recovered the ball in front of Madrid, started driving, leaned on Mendy and went into the area, dribbling between three opponents, to be measured with the Atalanta goalkeeper; with everything in favor, his touch was excessively crossed. The Brazilian was left lamenting within the network, while the rest of his teammates made an effort to let him know that, despite a bad resolution, these types of actions are what Madrid is looking for in him.
Shortly after, he galloped up front again and this time he chose to dribble outside to Toloi, who tripped him in his attempt to clear. Clear penalty scored by Ramos and certified eliminatory for Madrid, thanks in large part to a Vinicius who signed very notable numbers against Atalanta: 90% of good passes, five duels won of nine and six recoveries.
“I have personality, if I fail I'll try again …”
After the meeting, Vinicius was still thinking about that failure in the final meters that deprived him of becoming an indisputable figure in the duel, in addition to exorcising certain ghosts related to his difficulty in defining: “He left for very little, I have to improve, but I am happy for the victory. Zidane and Ramos have told me that I played very well. I have a lot of personality, if I fail, I will try again … This is how it happened on the penalty play, he (Toloi) thought I wasn't going to try and I did. “
And it ended with a challenge: “Now comes the good, big games that I like.” In effect, Madrid will have a loaded April, with the two Champions quarterfinal duels, against the rival that fate chooses, surrounding the Valdebebas Classic, on April 11. Without Hazard and with performances like this, the Brazilian reinforces a candidacy that had already been taking shape in the previous weeks: goal against Real Sociedad, good minutes against Atleti, starter against Elche … His numbers penalize him (just four goals in 1,750 minutes) and be aware that Zidane looks with a better eye at other colleagues. To stay on top, Vinicius needs to reproduce his performance against Atalanta day by day.